It was one that Narbonne had dreamed of for so many years, through so many bruises, both to the body and the pride.

This is the third year of the Troy Williams era at Narbonne, and the senior quarterback had led the Gauchos to an undefeated record and the No. 1 ranking in the state.

And then he was faced with a two-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter, and all he did was just enough to add to his legend.

It wasn’t enough for Narbonne, and their dream of playing for the CIF State Open Division crown was stolen away late Saturday night.

It took a championship drive by Centennial of Corona to decide the Southern California title, 41-34 , and earn the Huskies a shot at De La Salle of Concord at Home Depot Center next week.

The record will show that Robert Webber’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Tre Watson with 27 seconds left lifted Centennial to its 14th consecutive win and added to its storied program, which already has eight Southern Section titles and one state crown in its belt.

Williams had Narbonne poised for a spot on the podium. Then the fates went against them.

The Washington-bound Williams passed and ran Narbonne down the field for the two touchdowns they needed. On the second, receiver AJ Richardson scored on a 3-yard run out of the wildcat formation.

That tied the game at 34-34 with 1:09 left. Kick an extra point, hold off Centennial for a minute, and that state final is reality.

One problem: Richardson was hurt on the play as he hit the corner of the end zone. Richardson also happens to be the holder on placekicks, and coach Manuel Douglas had an agonizing decision.

Kick with a backup holder, or go for two and take your chances.

Douglas picked his quarterback.

Williams tried to run around the right end, but was stuffed just before the goal line. That would make for a juicy bit of second-guessing for a long time, but the game wasn’t over.

Narbonne’s defense, seemingly chasing shadows all night and scrambling back from a 27-8 deficit, couldn’t stop Centennial and added two 15-yard penalties along the way.

Narbonne was right there. Right where the Gauchos planned, someday, to be.

Year after year, Narbonne pushed its limits. It would schedule any team, anywhere, taking on the elite teams of Southern California.

The lumps were taken along the way, but there was a method to coach Manuel Douglas’ madness. His Gauchos would learn what it takes to play at that level, and they would be properly toughened for Marine League play and the L.A. City playoffs.

It worked. In 2009, Narbonne tied Marine rival San Pedro for the L.A. Championship. A year later, Narbonne was back in the Coliseum but fell to Crenshaw.

Last year, the Gauchos recovered from a couple of early knocks, then bludgeoned their way to the City title. Ahead for 2012 loomed another daunting schedule. Rarely do Mater Dei, Long Beach Poly and Serra appear on a schedule if coaches can avoid it.

The Gauchos not only survived, they ran the table. Narbonne was apparently locked and loaded to make a dent felt around California.

It was a tough climb to the state’s No. 1 ranking, but well worth it.

That next ladder? Yeah, that’s something else altogether.

Saturday might not have gone right all the time for Narbonne, but the Gauchos showed they had learned a few lessons on their sojourn.

The most difficult lesson of all was finding that after scaling that wall, overcoming all of those obstacles, there was another ladder to climb.

They stumbled, but didn’t crumble. They showed they had what it took at the end, but now they face the climb from step one all over again.

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